Remote Sensing of Understory Plant Phenology: A Framework for Monitoring and Projecting the Impacts of Climate Change
Abstract
Phenology is an integrative environmental science used to examine recurring biological events in nature. The emphasis is in observing recurring plant and animal life cycle stages, especially their timing and relationship with weather and climate. Examples include wildlife migrations, spawning, or the flowering and fruiting of plants. At higher latitudes, temperature has strong physiological control over rates of vegetation development. Variability in seasonal temperature can therefore influence the timing of vegetation phenology and all of the interrelated ecosystem processes that rely on it. Shifts in phenology are one of the first observed impacts of climate change. Increasing temperatures are advancing the timing of spring onset which in turn alters species movement and interactions, increasing the risk of trophic mismatches. Satellite remote sensing provides an efficient means of uncovering broad-scale phenology patterns, however monitoring the comprehensive development of an individual plant species remains a significant challenge. These complexities are exacerbated in forest ecosystems due to interference from overstory canopies on the remote detection of understory vegetation. This research exploits the physiological nexus between plants and temperature as a window through which understory phenology can be observed. A framework was developed to produce daily maps of understory plant phenology using satellite-derived estimates of understory air temperature. It examines the scales at which phenological relationships operate and how they vary in space and time in the southern Rocky Mountains of Canada. It also explores the projected impacts of climate change on phenological timing through mapped scenarios and experimental warming in climate-controlled growth chambers. The framework provides global extensibility to monitor intra- and interannual phenology patterns for any species with distinct seasonal phenology; providing near-real-time ecosystem monitoring for a dynamic alternative to traditionally static, niche-based approaches of environmental modeling.
Description
Keywords
Forestry and Wildlife, Ecology, Remote Sensing
Citation
Laskin, D. (2017). Remote Sensing of Understory Plant Phenology: A Framework for Monitoring and Projecting the Impacts of Climate Change (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27624